China’s top mobile phone maker Xiaomi is looking to make devices in India, possibly using the idle plant of Nokia at Chennai. The company, the world’s third-largest mobile phone vendor and one of the fastest-growing, has said it is scouting for partners for making phones in India, its second-biggest market.
The company has emerged as the third-largest mobile phone vendor in the world and now they are looking for partners to manufacture phones in India, which is the second largest market for their smartphones. In a conversation with TOI, Xiaomi India’s operations head Manu Jain has told that they have already started exploring opportunities to manufacture the devices locally in India as India is a big market with bigger potential and they want to stay close to their customers.
The company is just four year old now and they have already taken the top position in China, dethroning Samsung. Manufacturing in India is expected to begin in next two years. If everything goes as planned, then it will boost PM Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative more. Recently Indian smartphone maker Micromax has also shifted their manufacturing base to India from China. Jain however didn’t confirm about any plan in relation to the idle Nokia plant in Chennai. The plant couldn’t be handed over to Microsoft because of their deal, which is still undergoing some legal issues.
Jain emphasised on local manufacturing as it will help make the device prices more reasonable in future. Xiaomi will also look for partners to help them assembling devices. In China too, then have a similar arrangement where they partner with companies like Foxconn, Apple and Blackberry for the assembling tasks. The company, as of now, sells devices online globally and they are very serious about the Indian market too.
